Review: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

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I’ve had this book sitting on my shelf for far too long. Why do I do this to myself? I delay myself the gratification of a great book! I also feel very hesitant about books when they become hyped. Sometimes A lot of the time it falls short but in this case, that’s furthest from the truth. I buddy read this with Dini and we had such a great time. We had so many thoughts going back and forth that we did figure out quite a bit. It was a lot of fun.

“Memories were beastly little creatures, after all—they rose with the faintest whiff of nourishment.”

Now… enemies to lovers is my absolute favorite trope. I just love the angst and I love the banter. There are a lot of funny moments in this book but it was great to break up the intensity. This book is dark and it’s brutal at times. I was not expecting it to be as violent as it was. Just a heads up, there’s a lot of violence, gore, detailed deaths, and a lot of bugs. I mean it… if you have an aversion to bugs then I’m not sure this is the book for you. Juliette and Roma do have some lighter and funny moments but Benedikt and Marshall take the trophy there. They were hilarious and amazing. I am not sure what’s going on between these two and they might just be friends but I am SHIP them so hard. They really are such a breath of fresh air when you need it most.

Juliette has come back after leaving for four years. Although, she’s come back a different person and she’s set on revenge. She hates Roma and the White Flowers for their involvement in certain events. It was a really fun dynamic that she was so tough and quite vicious but Roma is the opposite. He just wants peace and hates to hurt anyone. He plays a part but doesn’t quite excel at it. They are both trying to figure out what is going on in the city but trying to avoid each other. I really enjoyed both of them but I feel like Juliette was all one speed. I know that Dini mentioned that too. I would have loved to see a softer side of her because she is so brutal but maybe that’s in book two.

“You destroy me and then you kiss me. You give me a reason to hate you and then you give me a reason to love you. Is this a lie or the truth? Is this a ploy or your heart reaching for me?”

One thing I want to gush about right now is the writing. Wow! Gong has such beautiful prose and her descriptions are in so much detail. I swear, I could picture the exact idea she has for Shanghai. The descriptions are stunning and the backdrop she creates for these characters is just phenomenal. There’s a lot of political intrigue and you don’t know who is behind all the chaos. The two gangsters are losing more and more territory to the foreigners. It feels like this city is being ripped apart but who will win out?

“Those who do not care, those who are violent, those who delight in that which is terrible”—Marshall shrugged, waving his hands about as he chose the right words—“they thrive. They come outside.”

Overall, this was a very vibrant, brutal, and interesting story. The romance is great and I am so looking forward to that angst in book two. There was a bit of a pacing issue at the beginning of the book. It took me far longer than I wanted to get hooked. I would have loved more background and character development of some of our side characters. I REALLY need more Marshall and Benedikt too. The ending was a little predictable and I wanted more. In the end, I can’t wait to start book two, which we are doing in May!

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